QuoteJ_72
Are they touring? Have they ever toured the US that much? I tried looking for info, and ended up with a latest release in 2009.

Jeff ~ Here's what I know as far as touring in the U.S.A. ~ They played Los Angeles three times from 1984-1988. Also Aswad was on the Reggae Sunsplash U.S.A. tours a couples of times in the early to mid 90's.
I really enjoyed all these shows and had hope to catch Aswad live again someday. Curious about their current line up?
One of my favorite Aswad lps was "Rebel Soul" from 1984.
Aswad ~ SNWMF 2014 ~

they played Rebel Salute this year but kind of flopped. Had trouble connecting with the JA crowd as they mostly played songs the majority of the crowd didn't know, aside from "Don't turn around." Could see them doing well on a US show though

They used to do pretty well out here back in the day. Took my friend Mark to his first reggae show back in the early 80s - Aswad at the Fillmore and he's liked reggae ever since.

Aswad used to be great back in the day when they had Donald Griffiths, George Oban, and Courtney Hemmings in the band. Hemmings left after their debut (self-titled) album. Oban and Griffiths stayed on board for a few more albums (Hulet, Showcase). Then the band began bubbling towards the rub-a-dub sounds in the mid 80s. I confess I enjoyed tunes like "Pull Up" and "Gimme The Dub," but then the band took a turn in the direction of 'pop' reggae. And, imo, the band has never been the same since the departure of Brinsley Forde in the mid 90s.

This is the only Aswad song from the past 25 years that I really love:

I'm not a big fan of "live" reggae albums and can only thing of about 4 that I've actually played on a regular basis, and Aswad are responsible for two of them - Aswad's "Live & Direct" and Burning Spear's "Live" (the white album cover) which also features all the aforementioned original Aswad members.

As previously mentioned, Brinsley has a new album out that is getting plenty of spins from me. At this point I would much rather see Brinsley Forde perform inna Boonville (perhaps backed by his good friend Dennis Bovell) than what remains of Aswad....

Aswad was a definitive influence on the UK roots sound & before they went 'pop', they released a string of killer, very underrated albums in the 70's and early 80's.. solid players too.. I'm not sure what the current lineup is like but its hard for me to imagine them without the sound of departed singer Brinsley Forde... 'New Chapter Of Dub' is one of the greatest dub albums ever made IMO....

Aswad and Steel Pulse got alot of attention in the 80's. It wasn't until I heard New Chapter of Dub that I became somewhat interested in Aswad. I tried to convince myself, before I actually listened to 'Aswad' Hulet' and 'Showcase' , that those would be 'essential' releases, similar to Pulse' Sound System , Tribute, and Earth Crisis. However, it was a lack of available quality material that prevented me from getting fully plugged into groups like The Cimarons, Misty In Roots, Black Roots, and Knowledge. I did catch Aswad in New Orleans in 1992 as part of the Sunsplash tour and they killed it-it left me wondering how a group that sounded that good live could never really deliver more consistent studio material.

I say... Some Never Plant yet want to Reap,
Be careful, try to look before you leap;
Took a little walk from my Vineyard...
Now I'm all alone..